Wisconsin’s system of 16 technical colleges has mostly recouped students it lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in about the same number of students last fall as in 2019.
PJ Liesch is the director of the Insect Diagnostics Lab at UW-Madison. He said the insects leave behind a sticky sap material that can lead to the growth of bacteria and fungi.
“There are some pretty significant agricultural concerns for things like grapes, hops and fruit trees. … But on most other plants, it’s probably not going to kill them, but it can be a significant nuisance issue,” Liesch said.
In a statement, UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert N. Golden and UW Health CEO Dr. Alan Kaplan said they will continue to support transgender and nonbinary patients.
“UW Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are committed to providing gender-affirming care that is evidence-based, patient-centered, and that focuses on the health and wellbeing of patients seeking the bright future they deserve,” the statement reads. “We will continue to lead clinical, research and education endeavors that allow patients to live their best and most fulfilled lives.”
“Democrats don’t have much to gain within the state by redrawing the congressional districts,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at UW-Madison and director of the school’s Elections Research Center, wrote in an email. “Doing that would, at most, tilt one or two more of the eight districts in the Democratic direction.”
The change isn’t unprecedented and stems from a case in the 1960s, according to Michael Childers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Workers.
“What they’re basically saying now is that, if any unfair labor practice has is found to have occurred after an employer asks for an election, then they don’t need to have the election. The union will just be recognized and bargaining should commence,” he said. “That absolutely could have some impact on unions being formed in the private sector.”
UW Health has not taken a position on the new bill, spokesperson Sara Benzel said.
Access gaps, economic adversity and school segregation in Wisconsin lead to racial disparities in educational outcomes, with efforts growing to expand learning options for diverse groups of students.
On Friday, Alliant Energy announced that they had received a $30M federal grant to build a CO2-based energy storage facility in Columbia County, Wisconsin—the first of its kind in the US, and the first ever on this scale. We talk with Mark Anderson, director of the Thermal-Hydraulics Laboratory at the UW-Madison, about what the new technology means for the future of renewable energy storage in the state and beyond.
Discussion centered largely on how the officials viewed the future of Wisconsin’s public higher education system in light of enrollment struggles but also touched on diversity, equity and inclusion programming and free speech on campus.
Tom Owenby, the associate dean for teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the reading bill demonstrates a renewed commitment to supporting students across Wisconsin in being able to read proficiently, which is a goal everyone shares.
“Why isn’t this being shouted from the rooftops?” asked Stanke, a 21-year-old nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is too Wisconsin-nice to shout, but in more than 20 states so far she has touted clean energy and nuclear medicine at schools, nursing homes, a state legislature and once on a water-skiing podcast.
Communities affected by University of Wisconsin System branch campus closures could see millions in state assistance to reshape how the county-owned facilities are used under a GOP-authored bill circulated this week.
The Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly is blocking pay raises for University of Wisconsin employees unless the university cuts diversity, equity and inclusion spending by $32 million — a move that comes amid the Democratic governor’s calls for lawmakers to spend even more on higher education.
State Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, will soon introduce legislation establishing $2 million in grant funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for Richland County to help local officials plan for the future of what locals have long called UW-Richland.
Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature ignored a special session that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called for Wednesday in the hopes of passing a $1 billion package that would keep a pandemic-era child care program running, send more money to the University of Wisconsin and create a paid family leave program.
It would also provide up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for Wisconsin workers starting in 2025 at a cost of $243 million, and would give UW an additional $66 million.
That money would give UW a boost after the Legislature cut its budget by $32 million. On top of that, Vos said last week that he won’t approve pay raises for UW employees that were included in the state budget unless the university cuts diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The University of Wisconsin System has to eliminate diversity and equity positions or sacrifice 6% pay raises over the next two years that were initially authorized in the budget Gov. Tony Evers signed this summer, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said.
Evers’ plan would funnel $66 million toward the UW System following a bruising budget season that included a $32 million cut. The $32 million is what Republicans identified as going toward diversity, equity and inclusion spending at universities over two years. A veto by Evers allowed campuses to absorb the cut while saving DEI positions.
The Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly is blocking pay raises for University of Wisconsin employees unless the university cuts diversity, equity and inclusion spending by $32 million — a move that comes amid the Democratic governor’s calls for lawmakers to spend even more on higher education.
University of Wisconsin System employees may see no bump in their paychecks this year despite 4% raises already being funded in the state budget.
The positive numbers come at a time when UW continues to fight with the Republican-controlled Legislature over funding and GOP opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Legislative leaders have also yet to implement a pay raise for UW and state employees that was approved as part of the state budget.
Enrollment largely held steady at most of Wisconsin’s public universities this fall, bucking a downward trendline that has plagued institutions across the demographically challenged Midwest.
The System expects to have 540 more students this fall over last, a 0.3% increase over last year’s final enrollment of 160,782, according to data the System released Thursday. UW-Platteville, UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point all anticipated gains of about 3.4% — a few hundred more students on their campuses this fall.
Evers has said he was open to reconsidering cutting taxes if Republicans would look at funding some of his priorities. Evers called a special session for the Legislature next week to spend more than $1 billion for child care, the University of Wisconsin System, worker shortage programs and other areas.
Pay raises for Wisconsin state employees that were initially authorized in the budget Gov. Tony Evers signed in July are still awaiting legislative approval, meaning state workers haven’t received the 4% pay bump that was due to activate this summer.
A Republican state lawmaker says legislators cannot know if the University of Wisconsin-Madison is following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action in admissions because the school won’t publicly disclose how they choose students. His comments came during a public hearing for a GOP bill that would guarantee college admission for highly ranked students.
Noted: Each of the University of Wisconsin campuses has detailed guidelines governing such situations, as do many corporations around the country, especially since the #MeToo movement brought to light the widespread abuses of power by those in leadership positions.
Quoted: “The federal due process standard is viewed as setting a really high bar for recusal,” said Rob Yablon, a professor and co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Quoted: The question signaled to candidates that climate change is something young conservatives take seriously, said Dominique Brossard, a professor and chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The fact that they did ask the question at a Republican debate for the primary, that there was a young conservative on video — that already tells you that this is an issue that has made the public discourse in a way that’s not a fringe issue,” Brossard said.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter fills us in on a state Senate public hearing this week — filled with debunked claims of 2020 election fraud — to discuss reappointing Meagan Wolfe to be administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. State Attorney General Josh Kaul has said the proceedings are illegal under Wisconsin law. Then David T. Canon, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, analyzes the situation, and this instance of the governing style of Republican legislative leaders.
Recent research from the Wisconsin Paper Council examined the often-overlooked role of the state’s paper converters in the state’s paper industry. Scott Bowe, a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains what paper converters do and why they’re booming in Wisconsin.
After a lull following the pandemic, more Wisconsin high school students are starting to take Advanced Placement courses and exams again.
But data shows students of color and lower socioeconomic backgrounds continue to fall behind in enrolling in the courses and taking the exams, which give kids the chance to earn college credits in high school.
Without any increase in state funding, the System is projected to reach a $60.1 million structural deficit by the end of 2023-24, according to System President Jay Rothman.
Camp Randall in Madison is one of the 18 stadiums targeted. The bipartisan caucus—led by Louisiana representative Garret Graves, a Republican, and Wisconsin representative Mark Pocan, a Democrat—wants to bring attention to “these iconic venues,” protect their value and adapt them to meet evolving needs, according to a news release. The effort, which will include “technological upgrades” and “infrastructure updates,” would likely involve federal money.
The promotion of civil discourse is one of the most urgent actions the La Follette School can take going forward.
Co-authored by Susan Webb Yackee is a professor of public affairs and director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. Curt S. Culver is the non-executive chairman of MGIC Investment Corp. and its principal subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), the nation’s leading private mortgage insurer. He is a founding member of the La Follette School’s Board of Visitors.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County should collaborate more closely with but not formally merge with a local technical college, a university work group recently proposed.
UW-Madison students met with state Sen. Kelda Roys on Tuesday, Aug. 22, to talk about state-wide issues affecting the university, including DEI initiatives, campus speech and voting.
UW-Parkside and UW-Platteville are now among the eight other system campuses considering furloughs and layoffs to close budget gaps. The president of the University of Wisconsin System elaborates on the system’s fiscal situation.
“As a physician, I believe that these deaths are almost completely preventable,” said Bill Kinsey, a physician and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Until we determine as a society the importance of a human right for people to work in healthy situations, we are going to see continued illness and death in this population.”
“The whole thing is unusual. It’s unusual that the elections commissioners themselves would divide, three to three, on whether to reappoint the administrator,” said Barry Burden, an elections expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So there’s a kind of a legal ambiguity now that didn’t exist before. But it seems to allow Megan Wolfe to stay in her position beyond her term, something that probably wouldn’t have been possible a year ago.”
The University of Wisconsin Madison will absorb the bulk of a state funding cut this year. And despite the first increase in tuition costs for Wisconsin undergraduates in more than a decade, most other campuses face budget deficits and will pull from reserves.
Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order creating the study group under the state Department of Workforce Development. It is to include state government leaders, representatives from the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College Systems, and others from state and local governments, the business community, educational institutions, organized labor, the technology sector and more.
Noted: Wisconsin is known for having tight elections. According to the UW-Madison’s Elections Research Center, the margin between two front-runners in Wisconsin is often less than 1 percent in four of the last six elections between 2000 and 2020. Only two wins, from former President Barack Obama, stood out as sizable wins for a candidate, according to the director of the research center, Barry Burden, per USA Today.
Quoted: “If it’s a case in which the defendant can make the argument that this was a lawsuit that’s being pursued in order to discourage people and intimidate people, and in fact, cost people a ruinous amount of financial damage, then that suit can be dismissed very, very early in the game,” said Robert Drechsel, a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In many cases, plaintiffs aren’t really suing to win, but they win by suing.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of Law and Director of the Great Lakes Indian Law Center Richard Monette said the raft of lawsuits in the easement dispute was “very foreseeable” and it may take an act of Congress to get the various parties to the table.
“This case is giving rise to the complex nuances of the political relationship between the United States and the tribes,” Monette said. “That’s why this is a matter for the political branches, not for the courts.”
“I don’t think that means anything for him. What this is, is a lengthy statement of facts of things that occurred to try to establish “look at all these people that Trump and the Trump team talked to. Look at the extent of what they were uh trying to do,” University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Ryan Owens said.
Research that makes pathogens more dangerous or likely to spread would be banned at Wisconsin colleges and universities under a bill proposed by Republican state legislators, who point to incidents and controversy involving bird flu studies at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), and Savi are teaming up to host a free online student loan workshop Tuesday afternoon.
Notable UW-Madison projects approved include releasing funds for the construction of Levy Hall — the proposed new College of Letters and Science academic building — the Veterinary Medicine Addition and Renovation project and the Chemistry Buildings Addition and Renovation project.
In 1957, she became the first Menominee citizen to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a bachelor’s degree in social work. Deer went on to become the first Native American to earn a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Evers on Tuesday proposed spending $197 million to build a new engineering building on UW-Madison’s campus. He also proposed spending $66 million for the UW System’s general operations.
The GOP-led Legislature rejected funding the engineering building earlier this year and reduced the UW System’s overall budget despite Evers’ calls to spend hundreds of millions more.
Evers’ $1 billion plan would allocate more than $365 million to child care programs, guarantee 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for Wisconsin workers, invest $66.4 million in UW System schools, award nearly $200 million for UW-Madison’s proposed engineering building and millions more for workforce education and grant programs.
Brian Schimming practically grew up on a college campus. His parents both worked for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lived on Lathrop Street for 37 years, less than a block from Camp Randall Stadium. He spent a lot of his time wandering the rolling hills and historic buildings on campus or trekking over to bustling downtown Madison.
Evers is again proposing spending for the University of Wisconsin System’s general operations and a new UW-Madison engineering building — both of which the Republican-authored state budget left out earlier this year. The governor’s plan includes $197 million for the engineering building, which UW-Madison previously specified as its top budget priority. The new building would replace the College of Engineering’s 83-year-old facility, adding over 1,000 engineering students per year.
Evers is also calling for $66 million in added funding for the UW System. He initially proposed a $305.9 million increase to the System’s budget over the next two years.
Officials at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh plan to lay off scores of employees, offer early retirement deals and impose furloughs as they grapple with a projected $18 million deficit, Chancellor Andrew Leavitt announced Thursday.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh will cut over 200 non-faculty employees and administrators this fall — about 14% of its workforce — and furlough all others, President Jay Rothman told reporters Thursday.
UW-Oshkosh will lay off more than 200 staff, furlough others and consider ending some nonacademic programs as it seeks to close a projected $18 million deficit by the end of fiscal year 2024.
A conservative estimate from a recent University of Wisconsin-Madison study puts the number of undocumented Hispanic workers on medium-to-large farms at roughly 6,200. That figure excludes the many immigrant workers on smaller farms, those with fewer than 500 cows.
The bill would provide $372,980 over the next two years for the Farm and Industry Short Course, which provides instruction for farmers outside of a traditional degree program. The program will now be hosted at UW-River Falls after UW-Madison stopped offering the residential program two years ago.
The bill, co-authored by Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, and Rep. Shae Shortwell, R-Two Rivers, would prohibit the UW Board of Regents and UW institutions from offering housing and meal plan contracts without a stipulation to refund students if university officials require them to leave campus. Students would not receive refunds if asked to leave campus for disciplinary or misconduct reasons.
